2012 - Volume #36, Issue #6, Page #37
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Sandblaster Made Of "Weldable Plastic"
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“This stuff is fun to work with,” Osnes says about weldable industrial plastic. The sandblaster needed to be large enough to blast tire rims, so he made it 48 in. wide and 30 in. deep. Osnes first looked at commercial sandblasters to make patterns for the hopper.
Because the bottom holds most of the weight, Osnes used the thickest plastic scraps (1/4-in.) for the hopper. The plastic cuts easily with any type of saw, he says.
He used a Drader Injectiweld to assemble the pieces.
“It’s just like other welding, but this is easier,” Osnes says. The tool feeds a roll of 1/8-in. plastic to the hot tip, and melds it and the plastic pieces together.”
He built in a double strength glass viewing window with filament on the inside that can be replaced. He also cut in holes for long rubber gloves to hold items and operate the sandblaster.
Osnes operates his unit with a squirrel cage blower off an old woodstove. He uses sand that he screens himself as well as coal slag.
The plastic has held up very well with no chipping at all, he says.
“It works good. I’ve used it quite a bit,” Osnes says. Currently he’s restoring a 1957 Chevy Bel Air and a 1929 Chevy pickup and using the sandblaster to clean up parts.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, James Osnes, 28918 346th Ave., Burke, S. Dak. 57523 (ph 605 775-2548).
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